Report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on the application of Directive 94/80/EC on the right to vote and to stand as a candidate in municipal elections by citizens of the Union residing in a Member State of which they are not nationals

Citizens are directly affected by the decisions taken on a daily basis by the local authorities in the economic, social and cultural areas. Local authorities represent the form of government that is closest to the citizens.

Participating in municipal elections, either to vote or to stand as a candidate, is a fundamental right laid down by Article 40 of the Charter of fundamental rights of the European Union; it enables citizens to be involved in the democratic life and to influence the decision-making process. Furthermore, such participation provides an opportunity for EU citizens who reside in a Member State other than their own to become better integrated in the political and social life of their host society.

Under the same terms as Article 40 of the Charter, Article 22(1) of the TFEU grants to every citizen of the Union the right to vote and to stand as a candidate at municipal elections in the Member State in which he or she resides under the same conditions as nationals of that State. The detailed arrangements for the exercise of the right to vote and to stand as a candidate in municipal elections are laid down by Council Directive 94/80/EC.

The previous and first report on the transposition and implementation of the Directive was adopted by the Commission in 2002. For the first time, the present report touches upon the broader issue of participation in local democracy and assesses the state of transposition and implementation of the Directive in the Member States which were not yet members of the Union in 2002, when the first report was adopted.

Although all Member States have transposed the Directive, a number of obstacles hampering the full exercise of electoral rights need to be addressed by ensuring the correct implementation and transposition of its provisions.

EUR-Lex: COM(2012)099: Follow the progress of this document through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2012:099:FIN

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